2023 Maserati MC20 Cielo Is a Drop-Dead-Gorgeous 621-HP Droptop

• The open-topped version of the Maserati MC20 features innovative active glass roof.

• The electrochromic glass can be turned dark or clear and folds in 12 seconds.

• The convertible is just 143 pounds heavier than coupe, according to Maserati.

When Maserati introduced the MC20 last year, we knew it would also create a convertible version of its junior supercar. What we couldn’t know until now, with the first official images you see here, is that the MC20 Cielo would be this handsome. Driving manners are certainly important in this part of the market, but so is design—and regardless of the dynamic experience, the decapitated MC20 is a spectacularly good-looking car.

The Cielo is not a conventional roadster, instead carrying a folding two-piece roof beneath the power-opening rear clamshell compartment. While heavy retractable hardtops have become less fashionable in recent years, as more luxury makers return to lighter fabric roofs, the MC20’s has a cool trick. It's constructed from dimmable electrochromic glass that can be turned from clear to opaque using electrical current. The ability to see through a clear canopy (as well as remove it) inspired the car’s name: Cielo is Italian for sky. Maserati says that the roof can be opened and closed in a relatively speedy 12 seconds and that the Cielo weighs just 143 pounds more than its coupe sibling. For reference, Maserati claims a weight of 3307 pounds for the coupe, but our test car tipped the scales at 3757 pounds.

The Cielo shares its carbon-fiber tub with the MC20 coupe, and is mechanically unchanged, using the same innovative Nettuno twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 which features both a dry sump and Maserati’s pre-chamber combustion system. It produces 621 hp at 7500 rpm and accompanies this with 538 pound-feet of torque from just 3000 rpm. Drive is delivered to the rear axle through an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. Maserati claims the Cielo will accelerate to 62 mph in approximately 3.0 seconds and to 124 mph in 9.2 seconds. For reference, our test of the MC20 coupe resulted in a slightly less impressive 60 mph sprint of 3.2-seconds and a quarter-mile time of 11.0 seconds at 131 mph; we’d anticipate the Spyder to be a couple of tenths slower through both benchmarks. Top speed is claimed to be 199 mph.